The Moment He Saw Her
by OnyxJinx
Summary: Seven moments when she's seen for the first time. For Caesar's Palace shipping week. Everlark / Odesta / Haysilee / Clato and more.
1. Chapter 1

_**AN: For shipping week at Caesar's Palace. Cato/Clove**_

She holds her knife all wrong. He hates that she lodges it dead center of the target with a sloppy technique.

She would pinch and scratch him to get out of a kimura hold instead of following proper instructions.

If she would just shut her damn mouth for a minute and listen, she might survive the first two minutes.

When an 11 flashes on the screen, something changes in her eyes: a mix of jealousy, confusion, anger, awe and fiery hatred. Knuckles turn white as she grips the hilt.

He won't mind if she fights by his side tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN: For shipping week at Caesar's Palace. Finnick/Annie**_

Just as the waves come and go, his footprints disappear in the wet sand as he curiously jogs across the grey beach searching for the source of the screams. Screams he heard not of distress or despair, but of greatness and challenge.

He finds her with tangled hair sweeping around her crown as if it were a flag on a mast. Her sheer nightgown, illuminated by the moonlight, whips and flutters with the waves' breath, revealing slender legs and delicate hips. She stands at the edge of the cold, biting water as it roars at her.

And she roars back.


	3. Chapter 3

**__****AN: For shipping week at Caesar's Palace. Maysilee/Haymitch**

He questioned his sanity when he saw her standing in the doorway, alive. She looked exactly like _her,_ with golden hair haloed by early morning light. She was exactly like the girl who saved his life with a tiny poisoned dart expertly shot into a Career's throat. He took it upon himself to return the dull brass pin to her sister, but he had no idea he would get another glimpse of _her,_ his keen ally, without those pink feathers matted to her neck that refused to molt.

He held onto that image tighter than he held any bottle.


	4. Chapter 4

_**AN: For shipping week at Caesar's Palace. Katniss/Peeta**_

Everything stopped when she sang, including his breath, stolen away by an innocence and beauty he had never seen or heard before. He placed a dandelion on her desk with a wish.

He held his breath when he saw her in the rain, innocence tattered and more threadbare than the sweater she wore. He made another wish with the bread he threw, that one day she would have a reason to sing again.

Everything stopped when her voice rang out once more, including his heart.

His wish of spending the rest of his life with her had also come true.


	5. Chapter 5

**__****AN: For shipping week at Caesar's Palace. Finnick/Johanna**

It's the one time they can be selfish; they use eachother when they want to leave everything behind.

When the taste of her on his tongue melts, so does the stress, anger, fear and loneliness that haunts him at night. Without pith, she wraps her legs around him and remains stoic when he shuts his eyes while he's inside her; lost in his private world, he fights his own demons. He can never be this way with Annie, she's... _different. _

But he does look at her when she comes and he knows she has conquered her own.


	6. Chapter 6

**__****AN: For shipping week at Caesar's Palace. Cashmere/Gloss**

Despite what happened in the Capitol when money was exchanged for pleasure, what they shared in private was unspeakable. In public they wore masks, disguising themselves as mere siblings; behind their own closed doors, they wore nothing but their crowns and they were royalty.

_My King! _she would cry, gripping the gold plated prize placed upon his head, leaving indentations of jewels in her hands.

What was the lesser of two evils: their victories obtained from the deaths of forty-six children, or how they chose to celebrate their victories in eachother's bed?

Either way, she was his Queen.


	7. Chapter 7

**__****AN: For shipping week at Caesar's Palace. Free-pairing**

She looked so scared when he caught her slipping back under the fence. He wondered if she could see how hollow her cheeks were in the reflection of his visor. He was also curious how the tiny rabbit she held could feed anything bigger than a fox. She held it out to him and he shook his head. The meagar catch was then dropped to the ground, crunching brown leaves under its limp weight. When her fingers fumbled across the buttons of her frayed flannel shirt, he nodded, accepting her idea of a different toll.

The next time he saw her, he welcomed her offer of the venison instead - at the Hob with his helmet off. She was intrigued by his red hair and even smiled when he made a joke or two. He would gladly give up his uniform to see her smile like that eveytime he saw her.


	8. Chapter 8

**_AN:_ Bonus chapter: For Estoma, inspired by her _Geryon _series.**

I'm so sorry, my dear child, I've failed you.

I couldn't reach you in time. For three days, I was trapped in that room, doing what ever I could to make my escape. Broken glass cut my wings, making my journey to you almost impossible. When I arrived, you were already _gone_.

Sifting through the ash, bone and rubble, there was no sign of your soft blonde hair or the white uniform you were so proud of. Only a grey silence filled the square.

I'm so sorry.

The boy with the dark hair locked the window.

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_I hope you all enjoyed the Caesar's Palace sponsored shipping week! I highly recommend that you check out the other member's contribution to the challenge. They are all very unique and wonderfully written. (Caeser's Palace forum can be found in General and check out the "All Aboard Shipping Week")_


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